I installed Caffeine because it's gotten great reviews, and is obviously a great idea. However, I wondered if leaving a computer on without any sleeping functions or whatever could be harmful. I've been told both sides that it will or will not affect a computer's well being if kept on, in general. But how about on Caffeine? I feel like it might be good for the Mac [Book Pro] to use often? An answer doesn't seem to show up in searches. Thank you!
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Caffeine
- Thread starter fortheloveofmac
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
It will not harm the computer, unless it is on maximum CPU use all the time, which would cause excessive heat and might damage components.
What is what?
The CPU is set to nothing and will only be used how much it needs to be used by the OS and the applications you use.
Maximum CPU is when a program uses 100% of the CPU's available processing power. If the computer is left like this for too long, it could overheat or shorten the life of some parts.
Caffeine does not use any CPU power at all. It is perfectly fine to use it and not have your Mac sleep.
I probably wouldn't leave it on just for the sake of it though, the backlights in screens have a limited life.
I only use it when I'm reading something and don't want the screen to dim for example.
I only use it when I'm reading something and don't want the screen to dim for example.
Thank you! What does that CPU come set to originally then? I'm not sure where to find it or what it is, so how do I know what it's set to?
It is set to nothing, as it is dynamically changing its usage depending on the processes that are running.
Can anyone confirm that when you close the lid of a macbook this app will disable? I switched Caffeine on last night when I was upgrading iphoto etc and forgot to switch it off when it finished. I closed the lid when I went to bed so that the MBA went into sleep mode but realised tonight I hadn't switched it off. Does this mean sleep mode was disabled even though the screen was closed?
